The event, which is open to the public, is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at the memorial site on the north end of the Kalamazoo Mall next to the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites, according to the Kellogg Community Federal Credit Union, which spearheaded and provided seed money for the $50,000 project.

“It is exciting to see our efforts come to fruition for this worthy cause,” Susan Balbaugh, the credit union’s senior marketing manager, said in a news release.

Zapata, 35, a 10-year veteran of KDPS, was shot and killed on April 18, 2011, while coming to the aid of a fellow officer who came under fire while responding to a report of gunshots being fired in the 1400 block of Hays Park Avenue in Kalamazoo’s Edison neighborhood.

Zapata’s death marked the first time that a Kalamazoo Public Safety officer was killed in the line of duty and only the second time since the 1800s that a law enforcement officer was slain in Kalamazoo County.